HomeTeams - PLArsenalJack Wilshere v. Aaron Ramsey | In-depth Stats Analysis

Jack Wilshere v. Aaron Ramsey | In-depth Stats Analysis

Next on the list is possession. As midfielders, possession is an important part of the game, so this – along with passing – are the two areas we should put the most stock in.

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According to the stats, the two are virtually even in this category. When you consider that Ramsey played about 25% more than Wilshere (around 2000 minutes for Ramsey while Wilshere played roughly 1600) and you adjust the numbers accordingly, there is almost no difference. Both lost possession once every five minutes, and the only real statiscical difference here is that Wilshere seems more adept at winning possession in the attacking third of the field, but the difference isn’t large enough to be considered statistically significant. The opportunities are so limited, that it could just be a string of good luck for Wilshere and/or a series of bad luck for Ramsey.

With that in mind, the possession category is a wash. Neither player performed significantly better or worse than the other.

Now let’s take a look at passing. This, along with possession, are arguably the two most important parts of a midfielder’s game, so as I mentioned before, we will pay special attention to these two categories.

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Even when you adjust the numbers to account for the difference in minutes played, Ramsey still has an edge on the sheer number of open play passes (OPP), and a moderate advantage on completion percentage, but that doesn’t tell us everything we need to know.

Wilshere has a lower overall OPP completion percentage, he may actually be a better passer. Why? In order to truly gauge a player’s performance when it comes to passing, looking at the direction of the pass is crucial. Any player in the Premier League can pass side to side and backward, but passing forward and creating chances presents an entirely different challenge. This is what separates great midfielders from good midfielders. This is not to say that Wilshere is great and Ramsey is good. It’s simply saying that looking only at overall OPP completion percentage is like reading only one chapter of a book; you may be able to get an idea, but you won’t know the whole story.

Ramsey’s total pass completion percentage, which is over 4% higher than Wilshere’s, coupled with his higher OPP completion percentage (88 for Ramsey, 86 for Wilshere) seem to give a good indication that Ramsey is a superior passer, but what about the direction of the passes? Wilshere appears to be more aggressive with his passing, making 29% of his passes up the pitch compared to Ramsey making just 26% of his passes in a forward direction, so how does that affect the efficiency?

About all we can do is look at the Passing Zones charts and make an educated guess. The final third of the pitch is the area where passes are hardest to make, so it’s safe to assume that the passes made in this part of the pitch will have a lower completion percentage than the rest of the pitch.

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Both players see their passing percentage drop as they progress up the field, but that’s not unusual. Ramsey’s completion percentage goes from 93% in his defensive third of the field, to 84% in the attacking zone, to 81% in the final third. Wilshere matches Ramsey’s 93% completion rate in the defensive third, but falls to 80% – well below Ramsey’s 84% in the attacking zone. Wilshere makes another big drop in the final third – this time coming up with a 78% completion rate, which is 3% behind Ramsey in that area of the field.

So again, this probably reaffirms the notion that Ramsey is a better passer. But is he a better creator?

Creating chances is about more than just passing; it’s also about taking risks. We see in the passing charts that Ramsey plays a lower percentage of balls forward than Wilshere does, but that’s probably not enough evidence to determine if Ramsey is too passive or not. It may mean that Wilshere is too risky, and Ramsey is playing the right pass. But what if only part of that is true? What if Ramsey is, technically, playing the right pass, but Wilshere is playing the creative pass? Creativity can be risky, so that could explain why Wilshere’s pass completion percentage drops more than Ramsey’s as they progress up the pitch.

After all, both have an identical 93% pass completion rate in the defensive half, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that they share similar skills when it comes to being able to complete a pass. But it seems Wilshere takes more risks as he moves up the field, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

According to Soccernomics, when Guus Hiddink took over the South Korean national team in 2000, he encouraged them to make “riskier passes” and not be afraid of making mistakes in the final third of the field. It’s worth mentioning that South Korea advanced to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup, but that is not the point. The point is that Hiddink is one of the most revered and respected managers of his generation. He’s been successful almost everywhere he’s managed, and he’s given that same advice to almost all of his teams.

Kuper (one of the authors of Soccernomics) states that the further up the pitch you progress, the less costly a mistake is. In your defensive third of the field, a mistake could mean there is nobody left between an opponent and the goalkeeper. In your attacking third of the field, a mistake may simply mean a change of possession or a sporadic counterattack. At any rate, having 70% of the pitch to rectify a mistake is much better than having only 30% of the pitch to make it up.

That means the fact that both players having a high pass completion percentage in their defensive side of the pitch is important. It also means that it’s important not to peg Wilshere as a poor passer just because his completion percentage is lower than Ramsey’s. That may seem contradictory, but it is not. As I stated, the fact that they both have a high – in fact, identical – completion percentage in their defensive third indicates that they have similar abilities when it comes to being able to complete a pass. However, as Wilshere progresses up the field, he seems to become more risky – which is good for someone playing a position where creating goals is a crucial element of the game.

Next Page: Wilshere Vs Ramsey: Creativity

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Wilshere Vs Ramsey Defending | Wilshere Vs Ramsey Possession | Wilshere Vs Ramsey Creativity

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Brett Boston
Brett Bostonhttp://soccertistics.wordpress.com/
I'm a freelance writer/coach who has a moderately unhealthy obsession with stats.
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